Gujarat misusing central funds for education, says state congress

Ahmedabad, Oct 6 (IANS) The central government funds meant for various educational schemes in Gujarat are being misused, the state Congress spokesperson said. Speaking to IANS here Monday, Jayantilal Parmar, spokesperson for the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), said the funds issued by the human resources development (HRD) department for the Continuing Education Programme (CEP) or the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) have been misused.

“I have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the CBI director in this connection for a full-fledged inquiry into the matter,” Parmar said.

Since 2003, the SSA was supposed to have been implemented by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) through its Ahmedabad Municipal School Board (AMSB).

Instead, the scheme is being run through a trust named Ahmedabad Mahanagar Saksharta Samiti (AMSS) under the AMSB. The mayor, municipal commissioner, chairman, and other officials are its members, he said.

The scheme is being implemented under the name of Nirantar Shikshan Yojna, he added.

“When the central government gives financial aid, neither the scheme nor its purpose or name can be changed. This government has changed the name of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to Nirantar Shikshan Yojna,” Parmar said.

“As for the SSA programme, the central government gives 100 percent grant for the first three years and for the next two years it is 50 percent while in the last five years - of the 10 year scheme - the state has to allocate 100 per cent on its own. What is happening is that in the very beginning of the programme the state has played mischief,” Parmar alleged.

“Funds from the central government have been allocated for payment of teachers of various categories, but the amount has never been paid fully in any one month for these people. But neither is this amount shown anywhere in the accounts nor has it been refunded to the central government. This is a large amount which is being misused,” Parmar said.

He alleged that the grant for newspapers, training and sports and recreation have also not reached the intended beneficiaries.